Women led 11% of Fortune 500 companies at the start of 2025. Just 11%. This fall, two stepped down in the same week, leaving the final tally even lower.

The impact of having women at the top is undeniable. Companies with more women in leadership see stronger annual returns, higher profitability and greater innovation. The business case has been made over and over again.

So why haven’t we made more progress? Too many companies still don’t have a real female talent pipeline—one that identifies, develops and champions women for the top job long before it’s up for grabs. Building that pipeline isn’t quick or accidental, but it is achievable and well worth the effort.

Here’s how to get started.

Don’t Pigeonhole Talent With High Potential Into One Area Of The Business

Companies led by executives with cross-domain career experiences consistently outperform their peers. Let your female employees tap into that advantage by intentionally broadening their roles and experiences.

JPMorgan, one of the rare firms proving what’s possible when you develop women leaders, has embraced this approach. In a notoriously male-dominated industry, the firm’s workforce is 49% women, and women hold 39% of seats in its Operating Committee. For the first time in history, the company is widely expected to be led by a woman next.

High performers don’t stay in their lane just because they’re good at being there. They’re placed in new, challenging and sometimes uncomfortable roles, where they’re expected to stretch, fumble and ask for help.

That’s what ultimately prepares them for leadership roles. Not perfection, but a well-rounded understanding of how the company actually works.

Invest In Leadership Development Programming Specifically For Women

Don’t stop at bringing women into the workplace. Create a space for them to learn, grow and rise.

Training and development programming is critical when you’re serious about constructing a female leadership pipeline. It’s where potential turns into preparation, and where leaders get shaped.

Take Unilever. The U.K.-based company has focused on programs recruiting, retaining and developing female talent. As of 2020, it achieved gender balance across management globally—up from 38% in 2010.

Examples of this kind of programming include:

• Manager training tracks for early-career women that teach core leadership skills like delegation, influence, conflict resolution and effective feedback-giving.
• Executive communication bootcamp, where participants create board-style presentations and get targeted feedback on their ability to build a narrative and convey their findings.
• Access to industry conferences, where women can broaden their knowledge and make connections.

These practices help recruit women—and keep them around.

Build A Formal Sponsorship Program (Not Just Mentorship)

No one reaches the top alone.

That’s where sponsorship comes in. Mentorship is valuable, but sponsors do more than give advice. They use the influence and networks they’ve built over their careers to open doors and create opportunities.

IBM’s Pathways Program is a strong example. Women in technical roles are paired with both a technical coach and a business sponsor. In a two-day workshop, the coach and sponsor learn about the participant’s skills, experiences and goals, then craft an advancement plan together. The results speak for themselves: More than 800 women have gone through the program, and 190 have landed senior leadership roles.

The impact isn’t just on individual careers—it’s company-wide. Employees with this kind of structured support are 98% more likely to recommend their employer as a great place to work. They’re also far more likely to trust the advancement opportunities their company provides.

Invest in women, and they’ll invest back.

Audit Promotion And Performance Review Processes For Gender Bias

Gender bias can creep in anywhere—and it often does. In fact, 88% of high-performing women are critiqued on their personalities in performance reviews, instead of their results or skills.

Watch for bias in areas like:

• Subjective criteria such as “leadership potential” or “culture fit,” where women are often underestimated or criticized.
• Under-crediting achievements and potential, while over-crediting effort—men typically get the opposite treatment.
• Stretch assignments and high-visibility projects, which can be fast tracks to promotions, disproportionately going to men.
• Family-related penalties for maternity leave, flexible schedules or family obligations, choosing to see them as signs of lower commitment.
• Less actionable feedback that leaves women without a clear path forward.

To perform the audit, track promotions, assignments and review language in performance reviews for patterns. Look for disparities in recognition, opportunities and feedback—and course-correct quickly. Your female talent pipeline depends on it.

Provide Generous Parental Leave With Options For Flex Return To Work

Parental leave shouldn’t be a bonus—it should be standard.

In Sweden, parents get 480 days of paid leave when a child is born or adopted—240 days per parent. That’s a full year, factoring in weekends, which keeps more than 90% of mothers in the workforce after leave.

Generous, flexible parental leave has outcomes for productivity, retention and mental health for new mothers. Give them a year, and flexible options when they return, and because you’ve taken care of your people through life changes, they’ll return ready to give their best.

Normalize Flexible Work Without Penalty

Women spend nearly twice as much time on unpaid household work as men—and yet, at work, that extra load often goes completely unrecognized.

Flexible work policies help level the playing field. Anchor days for in-person collaboration are important, but remote options, virtual meetings and other flexible measures can ease the burden of managing both professional responsibilities and that invisible labor women take on at home—without being penalized for it.

When more women lead, organizations perform better. It’s time companies implement policies that get women to the top, and keep them there.

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